ABOUT TAI RICCI

Ricci hails from Philadelphia, Penn., where she attended The University of the Arts, earning a BFA in Directing and a BA in Theater. Ultimately, she fell in love with the culinary arts, specifically the artists and creative spirits who gravitated to it. While a student, she worked alongside some of the city’s most prominent restaurateurs: Stephen Starr of STARR Restaurant Group, pioneering chef Audrey Claire Taichman and Marc Vetri, a James Beard award winning chef for Vetri. Ricci found solace in meeting new people each night and having the opportunity to welcome them back in time after time. 

Ricci’s post-college career began in New York, then took her to the West Coast, where she worked at Katsuya Uech's Brentwood Restaurant in Los Angeles as a corporate trainer for parent company SBE. She assisted in the opening of several outlets across the greater Los Angeles area, including Chloe, Katsuya Downtown, Katsuya Glendale and Katsuya Hollywood, helping to set the company's hospitality standards.

Her talents led her to an opportunity helping open Michael Mina’s restaurant, XIV, on the Sunset Strip, where she first crossed paths with her now business partner, Ryan Cole. The two later embarked on a journey to San Francisco, where they met Jason Halverson, future Chef and partner of Hi Neighbor Hospitality Group. The trio left The Mina Group in 2013 to begin their own venture, opening their first restaurant, Stones Throw, in Russian Hill.